JAMES Vince is determined to prove the bookies wrong in his first full season as Hampshire’s captain in all formats.

Vince, already captain of the T20 and 50-over sides, was given the County Championship captaincy permanently after overseeing Hampshire’s Great Escape at the end of last season.

But despite the addition of Reece Topley, Hampshire are 11-4 favourites to finish bottom of the first division.

“It’s a nice place to be because we can prove the bookies wrong,” said Vince. “If we play like we finished last year we’ll be in the top half.

“The bowlers are capable of wickets in all conditions so there’s a lot of belief.”

Topley may not play tomorrow as he concentrates on building his fitness, but Vince is looking forward to having a new-ball attack led by the 6ft 7in left-armer and Fidel Edwards.

He said: “We don’t want to break him down and be without Reece for a huge chunk of the season so we’ll use him and Fidel wisely, but we’ve got a group of bowlers capable and ready to play first division cricket.”

After a winter of limited-overs success with England, most notably his man-of-the-series T20 performances against Pakistan in November, Vince is focused on starting the Championship season well.

He did not register his first half-century until June last season and had not faced a red ball for six months before his first pre-season net since the World T20 on Wednesday.

But it was against Warwickshire at the Ageas Bowl that Vince scored his only Championship century of last season, an unbeaten 125 in the second innings that set up Hampshire’s only home win of 2015 in the longer form, by 216 runs.

“Our success against Warwickshire at end of last season should give the guys confidence,”said Vince.

“We’re looking forward to getting out there and getting stuck in."